1 May, 2023

Hades Canyon is the informal placename for the major east fork of Tuckup Canyon. The canyon seems to be mostly dry with some pools in the lower section of the canyon which can be entered coming up from the Tuckup streambed, but descending the Hades arm has impassable obstacles that make this a canyoneering descent. Thia can be accessed from the Tuckup Trailhead, and Hades Route provides an alternate access to the Tuckup area from the east.

The placename is taken from the rim feature Hades Knoll. We can suspect this relates to the bizarre images of the Shamans Gallery and the Hades Panel, prehistoric polychrome images from the earliest period of human presence in this region. So the route must have been known and traveled from the same early period.

Access

The initial approach can be made from the SB Point road, west to the Hades rim and to the tipoff behind a limestone fin separated from the rim, making an easy walkdown at the start. This location is a short distance along the rim west of the primary drainage.

The Route

The route descends steeply to the east but without much difficulty until the looser material of the Toroweap slope. Hikers should be experienced with these conditions and cautious of the risk to other hikers downslope.

Coconino Cliff Band

The route crosses and descends somewhat east of the centerline of the ravine to a minor cliff-band above the bare rock surface below. Getting past this spot is the most challenging single obstacle on the route. There are 2 or 3 options to get below this area with a likely difference of views about the best choice. The left (east) option is out of immediate view at a secondary ravine with a Class-4 rockledge downclimb. The other option is a steep slope just below in a rockpile jam with a pinion growing between the boulders — not very exposed but much loose material here.

Below the cliff-band, descend through most of the Coconino cliff with several easy ledges, continuing a trend to the east to access a narrow rocky bench between the cliffs. With several descents and various minor obstacles, the route follows this bench structure east as far as possible to the final protected downclimb in a crevice upslope from a very obvious limestone landmark block below.

Hades Fork Access

The route descends to pass below this landmark block and then, with some hint of travel, stays with the streambed-right slope for some distance. The optimal line of travel will cross the streambed to the east and continue on the broad open surface parallel above the bed and then go down the slope to where the next drainage cut joins.

The streambed forms a good access into the Esplanade looking for a potential water source. A minor pouroff has 3 shallow moki steps to assist the bypass and there can be water here at times. The next drainage to the right may have a seep-spring in some seasons, and the next after that to the left hides a series of potholes which are more likely to hold some water, and can be reached with some difficulty from above or below.

Loaded with full packs for several days travel going east we opted not to make the climb out. The first two side-canyons to the east or west are the easier exits up onto the Esplanade.

Difficulty and Appeal

This is a very useful shortcut, on a very difficult route, into a very difficult area of the western Grand Canyon region, and hikers attempting to travel the Esplanade often have trouble with route-finding and water sources. This is an area where you always know where you are but may not be in the right place, or may have made a poor choice selecting a line of travel. It would be best to practice your off-trail travel skills in other places before coming here.